TBR@55 Robertgreaves's challenge for 2012/3 part 2

Part 1 was here.

I have 63 books in my physical TBR pile and 8 in my virtual TBR pile. My challenge is to uproot 30 physical books and 5 virtual books. Books count towards the challenge when I start them because then they're out of the pile.

Currently reading:
The Second Science Fiction Megapack,
Ursula Leguin's Four Ways to Forgiveness, and
David Aaronovitch's Voodoo Histories.

Good luck Robert, I know you'll do it!

Good luck! I also have a couple of potential ROOTs by Le Guin (one of my favourite authors).

Thank you for the encouragement, both of you.

Starting Fred Vargas's The Chalk Circle Man, my no. 36 for this year (30 September 2012 to 29 September 2013). This brings the TBR pile down to 62.

My review of Four Ways to Forgiveness:

Four novellas about the planets Werel and Yeowe. Corporations on the slave owning planet of Werel had sent slaves to colonise Yeowe but four centuries later the slave population of Yeowe won their independence from Werel. The four novellas show the beginnings of reconciliation between different factions on Yeowe and between Yeowe and Werel through the coming together of couples from different backgrounds.

Some great stories which avoid the pitfall of romantic love conquers all but do bludgeon one rather with the parallels and contrasts between events on these worlds and present-day issues on Earth. Subtle social criticism, it ain't.

My review of Voodoo Histories:

Entertaining survey of conspiracy theories from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to the current belief amongst some that President Obama was not born in the United States. The author shows how although the content of conspiracy theories may vary, the dynamics and personnel involved are often similar. He tries to explain why conspiracy theories are popular (human beings prefer narrative explanations and they plug into anxieties about social or political change of those who perceive themselves as disadvantaged by the changes).

I hear that the Virago Modern Classics group is having a year-long read through Barbara Pym's novels so I am now starting Some Tame Gazelle as my No. 37. Not off the TBR pile.

My review of The Chalk Circle Man:

Commissaire Adamberg believes that there is a sinister purpose behind the chalked blue circles appearing around miscellaneous pieces of litter on Paris's streets, and he's right.

Satisfying first outing for Adamsberg, though the fact that most of the action takes place in characters' heads takes a bit of getting used to. Fred Vargas skillfully avoided various cliches that seemed to be looming.

I don't think I have read any Barbara Pym (hard to believe, I know), so I look forward to seeing what you think.

I added Age of Bronze: A Thousand Ships to my wishlist from your other list. It looks pretty interesting and my baby has gotten me interested in graphic novels somewhat.

I need to start my thread here!

By the way, thanks for the link from your old thread.

Thanks for dropping by, BJ.

Starting No. 38, John Rogerson's Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings, which brings the TBR pile down to 61.

I last read Some Tame Gazelle about 3 years ago, and haven't changed my review:

Two middle-aged unmarried sisters living in a small village each receive a proposal of marriage from unsuitable men and decide not to accept, and life goes back to normal.

Barbara Pym wrote this in the 1930s while she was at university, trying to imagine her and her friends' lives 30 years on. She revised it for publication as her first published novel in 1950. It has all the classic Pym themes and humour but is not as well grounded in time, place, and social setting as her other work. It's certainly worth reading once but it doesn't bear frequent re-reading in the way her other work does.

My No. 39 is the Iliad. The TBR pile remains the same because I bought a book today, Julian Rathbone's The Last English King.

My review of Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings:

An attempt to summarise OT and NT history from Abraham to the First Jewish Revolt against the Romans.

The author freely admits that an account of rulers of Israel and Judea doesn't really fit into the series format, but nevertheless he has a go at squeezing what is known into this straitjacket. Basically precious little is known outside of what is reported in the Bible and Josephus and a few passing mentions elsewhere. Archaeology doesn't really seem to have been much direct help, though it does provide more illumination for some of the foreign peoples mentioned in the Bible. The result is a confusing mishmash.

The Chalk Circle Man is on track for getting read by me this year. And I also saw the Barbara Pym reading group. I've started Some Tame Gazelle, but I had to buy it this year, so it won't count for my main challenge. :(

@ 6
I love Vargas' books. They are all enthralling and Commissaire Adamsberg is a great charater :-)

Thanks for dropping by, Ameise.

You're welcome. I'll keep an eye on your thread :-)

Hi Robert, I just thought I would drop by to see how you are doing. Looks like you have the challenge well in hand, I got lured away by library books, but hope to polish off a couple more before the month ends.

I've reached a bit of a hiatus. Things are rather busy at work, I've got some new DVDs to watch, and I bought the second Adamsberg book, Seeking Whom He May Devour and an ebook of John Skelton's poetry. And with all the discussion groups and courses on the internet, part of me thinks I should do the Iliad "properly" and really study it.

Starting my No. 40, The Third Science Fiction Megapack, another book of short stories to read in between other things. An ebook which doesn't affect the physical TBR pile.

Enjoy The Iliad. I love those epics. What translation are you reading?

It's the Fagles translation.

Starting another two books, Nos. 41 and 42. One, The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack, is a new ebook and so does not affect the TBR pile. The other, Gillian Bradshaw's Island of Ghosts brings the TBR pile back down to 61.

Starting No. 43, Stephen Briers's Psychobabble, which brings my TBR pile down to 60.

Good work, Robert.

It's amazing how much reading you can get done in a day spent hanging round airports.

Starting No. 44, John Skelton (Everyman's Poetry), the works of the early Tudor poet. This is a recently purchased ebook and does not affect the TBR pile.

My review of Psychobabble:

Entertaining look at some of the presuppositions and beliefs of the self-help industry and their effect on popular culture, such as the importance of assertiveness, emotional intelligence, and the inner child. Most of them turn out to be distinctly dodgy and even if they were true, probably undesirable.

Starting No. 45 Augustine's Confessions, a re-read and not from the TBR pile, which has grown back up to 62 because a friend gave me 2 books as she's moving to somewhere smaller.

My review of John Skelton:

Poems by the Tudor poet who was the future Henry VIII's tutor before Prince Arthur died and Henry became heir to the throne. It was a mistake getting the Kindle edition as all the layout has been destroyed in the conversion process, which makes reading poetry very difficult.

That is a pity, Robert!

I got a copy of the February Magnificat at my retreat which had a flyer for a book called something like Praying with the Gospel of Luke. Is that your book? I will try to order it, but it will probably be a little late. I finished Mark and am ready to start on reading through Luke.

I bought several books while on retreat. I will try to list them later in my thread. I am still kind of tired from the trip. Hope your trip with all the hanging out at the airport was a good one.

It was just a visa run. All I had to do was go to Singapore, get a Singapore stamp in my passport and turn round and come back again. There was only 5 hours between arrival and departure; not really time enough to go into the city, especially with the queues for international flights and security being what they are these days.

My Luke book is by Tom Wright, and it doesn't sound as if it's the same. When I reach the Prodigal Son, I'm also going to read The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J. M. Nouwen. Do you know it?

And now it's Ash Wednesday, so I'm starting my no. 46, Tom Wright's Lent for Everyone Luke Year C, which brings the TBR pile down to 61.

No, I don't know that book, but it sounds like a good one. I have a book of Lenten reflections by him. Maybe I will read that along with the Magnificat Lenten Companion.

I went to early Mass for Ash Wednesday. I wish I was an early Mass person, but I don't wake up that well. My dog, however, rediscovered how to pop up on the edge of the bed and awaken me at 4:00 a.m. despite her torn ACL. So I was plenty awake for Church at 8:30. :)

I was inspired for my Lenten sacrifice by the tough one my friend made last year. So I picked 2 tough things for me and let my husband choose which he thought I should do. (I don't think I could do both.)

We had an evening Ash Wednesday service but as a major rainstorm started just before 5, getting there was, shall we say, a challenge.

We have only had a little rain this winter and not much that could be considered snow. Maybe March! Snows in March are usually big because there is so much water in the atmosphere. But they don't happen all that often.

Starting my no. 47, Justin Lee's "Uncondtional'. That's the UK title. The American title is "Torn". Either way there doesn't seem to be a touchstone. It's a recently purchased ebook, so it doesn't affect the TBR pile.

Starting my No. 48, Jostein Gaarder's Vita Brevis, which brings the TBR pile down to 60.

My review of Justin Lee's "Unconditional" (UK) or "Torn" (US) (still no touchstone):

Justin Lee comes from a loving Southern Baptist family and was so religious that he was nicknamed 'God Boy' at school. There was just one problem, he's attracted to men, not women.

He describes his struggles to come to terms with his sexuality in a way which was true to his sense of integrity in an engaging style which kept me turning the pages. I didn't really find anything new in the arguments back and forth, though I was saddened and outraged by the way he was sometimes treated. As he says, what he's an expert in is his experience and his story, and it's well worth reading. Trouble is, I suspect those who would most benefit from it won't read it.

Trouble is, I suspect those who would most benefit from it won't read it.

>34 Robertgreaves:: That's so true, Robert, and such a pity.

Starting my No. 49, William Tyndale's The Prophete Jonas. This is a new ebook and so doesn't affect the TBR pile.

My review of Vita Brevis:

A fictional novella-length letter giving the reactions of Floria, St. Augustine of Hippo's concubine who he abandoned, to his Confessions.

I enjoyed the debunking of the Confessions, and her insistence that God's creation is to be enjoyed, not despised.

Starting my No. 50, Richard Miles's Carthage Must Be Destroyed, a new ebook which doesn't affect the TBR pile.

Stopping by to say hello. We did get a nice, although short snow. My doggie loved it. Hope you are having a good Lent. I wasn't able to buy the book that you are reading, but I did reread Luke.

Starting my No. 51 Henri J. M. Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son. It's from the TBR pile but I've added another two, so that makes 61. Starting it now because I've reached the Prodigal Son in my Luke book.

I am reading a book of Lent and Easter Wisdom from Henri Nouwen and it is amazing. I need to get some of his books.

I've just finished The Return of the Prodigal Son. It doesn't really have bite-sized quotes, but it's a wonderful book. He considers how his character reflects the younger and elder sons and the father in the parable, and also how Jesus and God are also reflected in the parable.

Apparently Henri Nouwen struggled with depression for a lot of his life and he's got some great wisdom to pass on for those times when you're feeling down about yourself or your life.

The book I have has selections from a variety of his books. The nice thing about that is that I now have lots of titles to check out.

The prodigal son is a story that I did not really get as a kid, but totally get now that I have kids. Funny how that works out.

I have also been reading Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (or whatever he is currently titled), and it has been a great read, but I kind of paused on it because I had so much other Lenten reading going on. I had hoped to finish it and read the Holy Week one before Easter, but that no longer seems possible.

I still haven't read a Pym book yet; I need to check the library out to see if it has the first one.

Starting my 52, Jane and Prudence, which I'm reading for the Barbara Pym centenary. It's not off the TBR pile, which remains unchanged.

I forgot to mention that I've also started another ebook of short stories to read between other books: The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack, which is my No. 53. I'm also starting a book from the TBR pile Terry Pratchett's Soul Music, which is my No. 54 and brings the TBR pile down to 60.

Are you reading the whole discworld set of books? I keep waffling on it; the comments are all over the place. But I am pretty sure that we have at least the first one.

Discworld is a series made up of sub-series and I think most people have different reactions to the different sub-series. Also, generally, it's a series that gets better as it goes on. I'm slowly collecting the complete series, but Soul Music was just to plug a gap in the Death sub-series, some of which I read last year, so it's a bit too soon to re-read them.

Starting my No. 55 The Odyssey, which brings the TBR pile down to 59. I forget why I put it in the TBR pile to re-read.

My review of Soul Music:

Music With Rocks In It comes to the Discworld, and Death's granddaughter falls for a guitarist called Imp y Celyn. The usual outrageous puns and other fun stuff ensue.

Starting my No. 56, Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, which is an ebook and so doesn't affect the TBR pile.

Starting my No. 57, Jeanette Winterson's Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles, a recently purchased ebook.

My review of The Penelopiad:

From the afterlife Penelope tells us her life story. Every so often the 12 maids killed on Odysseus's return to Ithaca give their perspective on events as seen from the other end of the social ladder.

Atwood's Penelope is a very funny character. If your mother is a Naiad, your father tried to drown you as a baby, Helen of Troy is your cousin (so you're always going to come off second best in the boyfriend/husband stakes), and your husband disappears for 20 years, really a sense of humour is your only possible way of staying sane. Her comment on Odysseus's return:

"The two of us were - by our own admission - proficient and shameless liars of long standing. It's a wonder either one of us believed a word the other said.

But we did.

Or so we told each other."

Great review!

Starting my no. 58, Victor Pelevin's The Helmet of Horror.

My review of Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles:

The story of Atlas and Heracles, with Atlas's back story and Heracles's future, plus musings by the author.

One or two nice passages, but I'm glad it was a very short book because I wouldn't have kept reading for much longer.

That does not sound like a nice read, Robert.

It started off well, and if it had just been the first half in an anthology I might have given it a much more positive review.

Started another two books (Nos. 59 and 60, neither from the TBR pile), David Grossman's Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson and Rex Warner's Julius Caesar.

My review of The Helmet of Horror:

Eight characters find themselves in separate cells with a computer set to a chat room their only link to each other. They can leave their cells to enter a labyrinth but is it the same labyrinth? All we see is their chat room conversation as they explore and attempt to understand their environment.

A cute concept, especially as I was reading it on my ereader. However, when I looked at the Amazon entry for the physical book and saw it was 250 pages long, I must admit my heart did sink a little.

The narrative parts were fine and read very fluently, but I have to admit the more philosophical discussions about the nature of their virtual reality as a metaphor of real-world reality were way over my head in places.

OK, I must admit that this book has me somewhat intrigued, so I decided to add it to my wishlist. My superlong wishlist.

Starting my no. 61, which is Less Than Angels, this month's book in celebration of Barbara Pym's centenary.

The TBR pile has increased by one book back to 60: Bjorn Turmann's The Last Tobacco Shop in the World, which was a present from the author.

Starting my no. 62, Pride and Prejudice. My TBR pile has grown to 61 with a present from a friend.

My review of Less Than Angels:

Lives and loves of anthropology students, anthropologists, and their friends and families.

The book mainly centres round first year anthropology student Deirdre Swan's crush on anthropologist Tom Mallow, and his response, breaking up with his girlfriend, women's magazine writer Catherine Oliphant. We also catch up with Miss Clovis, Everard and Mildred Bone, Miss Jessop, and Everard's mother.

Favourite quotes:

"There are few things more disconcerting or even upsetting for a regular worshipper at a church which is not normally very full than to find his usual seat occupied by somebody else."

"Things were said on both sides which might be regretted afterwards, and both felt the perverse satisfaction which is to be got from saying things of precisely that kind. It is very seldom that we can tell our friends exactly what we think of them; for some the occasion never presents itself, and they are perhaps the poorer for not having experienced the exultation of flinging the buried resentment and the usually irrelevant insult at a dear friend."

Starting my No. 63, P. D. James's Death Comes to Pemberley, an ebook.

Reading my No. 64,Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which brings the TBR pile down to 60.

My review of Death Comes to Pemberley:

Six years after the marriage of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, on the night before the annual autumn ball in memory of Mr. Darcy's mother, Lydia Wickham arrives in hysterics claiming that her husband has been murdered in the woodlands on the Pemberley estate. In fact Captain Denny has been murdered and Mr. Wickham is the most likely suspect.

A deeply disappointing book. Is anyone who is likely to read this really going to need the quick gallop through the plot of "Pride and Prejudice" in the prologue? The book fails as fanfic because it not only doesn't consistently preserve P&P's characterisation, but contradicts P&P on several points

The book also fails as a historical mystery in that it really doesn't inspire confidence that the author is at home in the period. The atmosphere felt more like it was set in an Edwardian country house rather than a Regency one.

I probably wouldn't have bothered with this if hadn't been by P. D. James, and it really isn't worthy of her.

>59 Robertgreaves: I'll be awaiting your thoughts on P&P&Z. Have you read Pride and Prejudice?

Yes, it was my no. 62.

Ah right! I read the mashup, but have not yet read the original. It's one of the many things on my shelves, awaiting its moment! heh

Starting my No. 65, Liza Picard's Restoration London, which brings the TBR pile down to 59.

My review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:

The Misses Bennet, highly trained martial warriors helping defend Hertfordshire from attacks by manky unspeakables, are distracted by eligible men: Messrs. Bingley, Darcy, and Wickham.

The incongruity of Miss Austen's young ladies dealing with zombie attacks is humorous enough and would make a great comedy sketch. But it really isn't sustainable for the length of a whole book.

Starting my No. 66, Terence's The Comedies. This is from the TBR pile, but another book has been added so it is unchanged at 59.

My review of Restoration London:

What life was like in London in the 1660s, covering city development, houses, interiors, gardens and open spaces, medicine, clothes and adornment, housework and shopping, food, sex, people, education, hobbies and entertainment, the law, money and class, and religion.

Pretty comprehensive coverage, interesting, and some good illustrations. I would have liked some illustrations in the section on clothing, which I found difficult to visualise from the descriptions.

I had been wondering about that book. Thanks for the review.

Starting my no. 67, Charlaine Harris's The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries Omnibus 1. This is an ebook so doesn't reduce the TBR pile. It is the last ebook this year which counts as a ROOT.

Starting my no. 68 The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries Omnibus 2

My review of The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries Omnibus 1:

Real Murders
The Real Murders club meets once a month to discuss famous real-life murder cases. And then one of the members is brutally done to death in a way that mimics the case that was going to be discussed that evening. Other murders within the group and their associates follow.

This started off as an amusing romp but managed quite a chilling ending.

A Bone To Pick
Aurora inherits a house and a sizeable amount of money from her friend Jane. When she arrives to see the house she finds its been broken into and searched, with nothing taken. And then she finds what the burglar was looking for: a skull. But whose?

A light amusing read. Most of the action takes place in Aurora's head until the culprit tries another burglary. Aurora is fairly passive, more taken up with her own life and just happening to be around when things happen.

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
Meeting her realtor mother's clients to show them round a house, Aurora finds a corpse in the master bedroom. The main suspects seem to be somebody at her mother's firm, a childhood friend's husband, and Aurora's new beau.

The more I read of these, the more I enjoy spending time with Aurora.

The Julius House
Aurora finds out her new husband has a secret life. She also investigates what happened in her new home 6 years ago when the Julius family vanished.

More action than others in the series.

Starting my no. 69, Robert Colton's Pompeii: A Tale of Murder In Ancient Rome.

My review of The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries Omnibus 2:


Dead Over Heels
Aurora's bodyguard, Angel, is behaving strangely, and the dead and injured are piling up. Does Angel have a stalker?

Apparently if a dead body falls from a plane onto your lawn, etiquette obliges you to go to the funeral. It's as well to know these things.

A Fool and His Money
Martin's niece, Regina, arrives unexpectedly with a baby. When Aurora and Martin arrive back from a dinner party later that evening, they find Regina's husband dead on the stairs and Regina disappeared, leaving the baby behind.

A much darker installment in this series.

Last Scene Alive
Aurora is starting to recover from the death of her husband when, to her dismay, a film crew comes to Lawrenceton to make a mini-series based on her first adventure. The actress playing her character is found murdered.

A bit sexier than earlier installments. Not really raunchy, just the fade to black comes a bit later in the proceedings.

Poppy Done To Death
Aurora and her stepsister-in-law go to find out why her other stepsister-in-law didn't turn up to an important lunch meeting only to find her murdered body.

I'd read this one before as a stand alone and it made a lot more sense as one in a series, with lots of passages that resonated. A nice wrap up to the series.

Reading no. 70, Jess Lourey's May Day.

My review of Pompeii: A Tale of Murder in Ancient Rome:

Gaius Sempronius Gracchus Marcellus has been falsely accused of parricide and is on the run with his much more capable and intelligent, and rather mysterious, slave, Tay. Trying to track down the witnesses to his father's death in an attempt to prove his innocence Marcellus finds himself caught up in a web of intrigue and mystery in Pompeii.

A satisfyingly complex mystery with a huge cast of characters. I loved the central Wooster and Jeeves relationship between Marcellus and Tay, and definitely want to read more of their adventures and something of Tay's back story.

However, I do have to say my enjoyment was marred by the number of typos, though I don't know whether they came from the original or the formatting as an ebook.

Starting no. 71, Katherine Roberts's I Am The Great Horse.

My review of May Day:

Mira James, the newly appointed assistant librarian in Battle Creek, finds a corpse in the library. She had hoped this guy was going to be somebody special in her life and he had stood her up the day before. She tries to find out what happened.

I bought this, the first in a series, after enjoying one of the later ones, but found it difficult to work up any enthusiasm. I don't think I'll be bothering with any of the others.

Reading my No. 72, Thornton Wilder's The Cabala AND The Woman of Andros.

My review of Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson:

Fascinating reflection on the story of Samson as recounted in Judges, chapters 13 - 16. Amazing how much the author manages to squeeze out of the tiniest details.

Starting my No. 73, Barbara Pym's A Glass of Blessings.

My review of I Am The Great Horse:

The story of Alexander the Great as told by his horse, Bucephalus.

It sounds very twee, and is obviously meant for a younger readership, but turned out to pack quite an emotional punch.

Starting my No. 74, Christopher Rice's Light Before Day, a ROOT which brings the TBR pile down to 58.

My review of A Glass of Blessings:

Wilmet Forsyth is a 1950s housewife in her early 30s. Mildly disappointed with her aimless existence, she gets more involved with her parish, wards off clumsy advances from a friend's husband, and fancies herself in love with the friend's brother, Piers.

The more times I read this book, the more I dislike Wilmet. She really is a terrible snob. For me, it's the minor characters that make this book come alive, plus the little tidbits of information about characters from previous books.

Starting my No. 75, Norbert Wolf's Romanesque, a ROOT which brings the TBR pile down to 57.

My review of Light Before Day:

Adam Murphy is an alcoholic, drug-addicted reporter living in Los Angeles. He writes puff pieces about figures whose scantily-clad cover pictures are what his editor thinks makes the magazine sell. Meanwhile Adam dreams of being an investigative reporter. Then he hears about a friend's encounter with a marine helicopter pilot which makes him suspect the helicopter's crash into the Pacific was pilot suicide rather than pilot error. Adam teams up with a mystery writer breaking into the true crime market to investigate.

After about 50 pages into this book I was thinking, "This is all very depressing. Do I really want to read this?". However, once the investigation actually got going the plot had lots of twists and turns and the book was unputdownable.

Starting my No. 76, Tottel's Miscellany . This is an ebook and so doesn't affect the TBR pile.

My review of Romanesque:

An overview of European art of the 10th to 13th centuries.

Bad translation. Also it isn't always clear whether the text is discussing the illustration or part of it or whether it's discussing a larger whole which the illustration is part of.

Starting my No. 77, Isaac Asimov's The Caves of Steel. This is an ebook and so does not affect the TBR pile. As I bought a physical book (Harry Sidebottom's Fire in the East, the TBR pile increases by one back up to 58.

Starting my No. 78, the next robot detective story, The Naked Sun. Again this is an ebook and so does not affect the TBR pile.

My review of The Caves of Steel:

When a Spacer is murdered and it looks like an Earthman must have been responsible, Detective Elijah Baley is ordered to investigate the delicate case and, what is worse, has to accept a robot as his partner in the investigation.

Ingenious mixture of a mystery and science fiction. Of course the social attitudes in this world of 3000+ years in the future are recognisably those of the 1950s but it's still a good quick read.

Is the Asimov book part of a series or standalone?

It's a series of four, which ultimately ties in with the Foundation books.

And I am now starting the third one, The Robots of Dawn. This my No. 79, and again is an ebook and does not affect the TBR pile.

Plainclothesman Elijah Bayley is asked to go and investigate a murder on Solaria. There is only one person who could possibly have committed the murder and she couldn't have done it either.

Ingenious, though I did find the isolationist society of Solaria unconvincing.

Thanks. I loved the Foundation books.

These are the books where we first meet the robot character from the Foundation books.

Starting my No. 80, Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome I: Fire in the East, which is not a ROOT but does bring the TBR pile down to 57.

My review of The Robots of Dawn:

Jander Panell, a robot, has been irretrievably deactivated. Was it a mere chance malfunction or was Jander deliberately deactivated by his designer in an act of roboticide? The answer will have profound political consequences not only for Aurora, but also for Earth and ultimately the galaxy as a whole. Elijah Bayley is asked to investigate.

A satisfying resolution to the problem was spoiled by the deus ex machina nature of the real, but unpublicised, solution and the clumsy foreshadowing of events that would take place many thousands of years in the future to tie the Robot series to the Foundation series.

I couldn't finish Warrior of Rome I: Fire in the East, so my next book, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, counts as No. 80. This is a ROOT and brings the TBR pile down to 56.

I am also starting No. 81, Yondering, an ebook anthology of SF stories for reading when the main book I'm reading isn't available for some reason.

No. 82 is Barbara Pym's No Fond Return of Love. It is the centenary of her birth on Sunday, so I have to be reading a Pym on that day ;-) It's one I've had for a long time so doesn't come from the TBR pile.

My review of Fahrenheit 451:

In a future (2050s?) United States where all books are illegal, Guy Montag is a fireman whose job it is to burn books and the houses of people caught with books. Dissatisfied with his life, he grows curious as to what it is about books that makes people run such risks.

Classic SF story from the early 1950s about the ultimate dumbed-down dystopia. Bradbury has a beautiful literary writing style.

So Robert, have tyou reached your goal?

I'm afraid not. I've read 21 ROOTS so far this year. I will try and mark the books on this thread more clearly as ROOTS or LEAVES (non ROOTS) in future.

Moving on to Barbara Pym's Quartet in Autumn, my No. 83. A LEAF, not a ROOT.

My review of No Fond Return of Love:

Dulcie Mainwaring and Viola Dace become friends of a sort at conference for editors and indexers. They look into the background and family connections of handsome lecturer Aylwin Forbes.

I would like Dulcie's life, though I suppose her investigations would be a lot easier and a lot less fun in the days of Google. Nice little snippets to bring us up to date with Wilmet and her social circle and Deidre and the anthropologists.

Starting my no. 84 Jeremy Lewis's Penguin Special: The Life and Times of Allen Lane, bringing the TBR pile down to 55. This is a ROOT.

My review of Quartet in Autumn:

We follow Edwin, Letty, Marcia and Norman, four office workers who are approaching retirement age, before and after Letty and Marcia actually retire.

There were some laugh out loud moments such as the lunch the four of them have together after Letty and Marcia retire, but on this reading as I get within shouting distance of their age I found it pretty grim reading.

Starting my No. 85 Alexander McCall Smith's The Unbearable Lightness of Scones. This brings the TBR pile down to 54 and is a ROOT.

My review of Penguin Special: The Life and Times of Allen Lane:

A biography of Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin books.

Very interesting account of his life and how publishing changed in his lifetime, many of the changes brought about by Lane himself. As publishing goes through another upheaval with the advent of ebooks, it's good to look back at what happened when good quality paperbacks were introduced.

You are really zooming along. I am reading so slowly this year. I think I overcommitted at Church and between that and work, I don't have as much time to read. But also, I seem to read more slowly. I am not sure why. I have found a book that might help me move along at a better clip at last. Can't wait to see what you think of the Alexander McCall Smith book.

Moving on to the next in the 44 Scotland Street series, my no. 86, The Importance of Being Seven. This is an ebook, so doesn't affect the TBR pile and is a LEAF, not a ROOT.

My review of The Unbearable Lightness of Scones:

Perhaps because it's been a while since I read the earlier installments in this series but there were times when I felt a bit lost, not quite picking up the references to earlier events. I also felt the humour was getting a bit less subtle, that I was being bashed over the head by the author's messages.

Next in the 44 Scotland Street series is my no. 87 Bertie Plays the Blues. This is an ebook and so does not affect the TBR pile. It is a LEAF, not a ROOT.

My review of The Importance of Being Seven:

Further adventures of the denizens of Edinburgh.

Can it be Bertie is winning a small area of freedom from Irene? And is there really such a thing as Stendhal Syndrome?

Starting my No. 88, Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary. This is a ROOT and reduces the TBR pile to 53.

My review of Bertie Plays the Blues:

More goings on in Scotland Street and its environs. Is there a glimmer of hope that Irene will become a little less awful?

This series is basically a written soap opera. Confusing if you leave it for a while but addictive once you pick up the threads again.

Starting my No. 89, Paul Waters's Cast Not the Day. This is a ROOT and reduces the TBR pile to 52.

My review of The Secret Adversary:

Plucky young things save England from evil Bolsheviks and a master criminal after the First World War.

I'm undecided whether Tommy and Tuppence are a great couple or need their heads banging together. But this book kept me turning the pages as the evidence swayed backwards and forwards between the two candidates for master criminal in disguise.

Starting my No. 90, Paul Waters's The Philosopher Prince and my No. 91 To the Stars -- and Beyond. Neither is a ROOT. "The Philosopher Prince" is a sequel to Cast Not the Day and hasn't even had a chance to touch the TBR pile since I've only just bought it. "To the Stars -- and Beyond" is an anthology of short stories to read on my Kobo when I don't have a book handy.

As I also bought David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, the TBR pile increases by one to 53.

My review of "Cast Not the Day":

Coming of age story of Drusus, who has to go to live with his uncle in 4th century London after his father becomes a victim of the power struggles after the death of Constantine.

Drusus is a great character, clinging to the sense of duty and courage instilled in him by his father and his tutor. I could wish the other characters had been more nuanced. Basically, pagan land-owning aristocrats good; merchants and Christian clergy and their followers bad.

Starting my No. 91 Barbara Pym's The Sweet Dove Died. This is not a ROOT and does not affect the TBR pile.

My review of The Philosopher Prince:

The story of Drusus and Marcellus continues in Gaul as they join the newly appointed Caesar, Julian.

A disappointingly run of the mill story which I just didn't feel any involvement with.

Starting S J A Turney's Tales of Ancient Rome. This is an ebook so is not a ROOT and does not affect the TBR pile.

My review of The Sweet Dove Died:

When I first read this I was a bit older than James, and now I'm older than Leonora. Then I thought it would be wonderful to have a friend like Leonora, but now I can't help but admire Pym's skill in how she makes us feel sympathetic towards somebody so fundamentally self-centred and unlikeable as Leonora.

I have started my No. 93, The Classic Humor Megapack. This is an ebook, and not a ROOT.

Starting my No. 94, Edmund Crispin's The Moving Toyshop. This brings the TBR pile down to back down to 52, and is my 26th ROOT for 2013.

My review of Tales of Ancient Rome:

A collection of short stories set in the Roman empire at various periods. Some action stories, some humorous, some taking a look at historical events.

I enjoyed them all. I thought the straightforward ones worked better than some where the author was trying too hard to introduce a twist. But none of them were bad.

Cloud Atlas is definitely worth a read. I didn't end up seeing the movie, because I just don't like Tom Hanks' movies . (I might be the only person who feels that way.) It took me a while to get into the book, but I was glad that I read it.

I have seen the film, and found a lot of it incomprehensible. I had heard from other people that the book was excellent and they wouldn't have understood the film if they hadn't read the book first.

I stumbled across a second-hand book sale today and got 3 books at Rp. 10,000 each (about USD 1.00). Don't these people understand that this is not the way to reduce my TBR pile?

Hi Robert, glad you found 'people' you can blame aswell!

About Cloud Atlas: very good book. Never seen the movie and I'm not inclined to do so. i'm not a moviewatcher. I like to make my own images about how things look. Don't wait to long to read this book.

Starting my No. 95, Pre-Raphaelites by Jason Rosenfeld. This brings the TBR pile down to 54, and is ROOT No. 27 for 2013.

My review of The Moving Toyshop:

Richard Cadogan stumbles across the body of a garotted old lady in a toyshop late one night after he is stranded on the way to Oxford. When he brings the police he finds not only has the body disappeared but so has the toyshop.

A hilarious adventure with Professor Gervase Fen as the detective. I really did LOL till it hurt in the scene where Cadogan and Fen chase after the girl with the Dalmatian, and are pursued in turn by the heavies nicknamed Scylla and Charbydis.

Starting my No. 96, Jack London's Call of the Wild. This is an ebook and so not a ROOT and does not affect the TBR pile.

My review of Pre-Raphaelites:

Nice pictures, text could have been more informative. Still a good souvenir of the exhibition.

Starting my No. 97, Karen Joy Fowler's
The Jane Austen Book Club. This brings the TBR pile back down to 53 and is my 28th ROOT for 2013.

My review of Call of the Wild:

Buck, a dog in the household of a judge in California, is kidnapped and taken north to work as a sledge dog in the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada. He learns to survive and gradually his primitive instincts take over.

Not an easy read for anyone who loves dogs.

Starting my No. 98, N. G. L. Hammond's The Classical Age of Greece. This brings the TBR pile back down to 52, and is my 29th ROOT for 2013.

My review of The Jane Austen Book Club:

A group decide to read and discuss Jane Austen's completed novels together. Their lives reflect the novels as they discuss them.

A clever conceit but I found the book's veering between a 1st person plural narrator (and it was never very clear who 'we' were) and 3rd person omniscient narrator rather irritating.

Starting my No. 99, Jeffrey Ricker's Detours. This is an ebook and so does not affect the TBR pile and is not a ROOT.

You are really kicking it Robert. And you have read some good books this year. Some I've not read but several that I have enjoyed as well. I hadn't given the 'not being able to count e-books as ROOTs but it makes perfect sense. I've not counted any of mine as I am not counting any books I have acquired in 2013 as ROOTs and all of the e-books I have read this year are 2013 acquisitions so lucky me. I don't have to go back and correct. ;-)
Keep up the good work. I like your listings and enjoy reading your thoughts on your books.
belva

Thanks for dropping by, Belva. I'm heading for a record year for number of books read. My ebook TBR pile is growing so I might have to re-think the policy for next year. Only one ebook now is not from 2013.

Excellent Robert!~!

My review of Detours:

Shortly after his return home to St. Louis from a holiday in London where he met Philip, the man of his dreams, Joel is told that his mother has died. After the funeral he agrees to drive his parents' RV from Portland across the country to San Fransisco to deliver it to a family friend his parents had sold it to shortly before his mother's death. He is accompanied by the brother of a girl he briefly dated in high school and his mother's ghost. After the trip he must decide whether to stay in Portland with his father, return to St. Louis, or follow Philip to London.

I enjoyed this book while I was reading it and it certainly kept me turning the pages. Afterwards it felt curiously insubstantial. Things happen to Joel rather than him doing anything much. I was ready to accept his essential passivity as due to the hiatus in his life in reaction to his mother's death but it appears to be typical of the way he seems to drift through life.

{SPOILER ALERT}

Even at the end Joel's decision is really made for him as his father opts for a retirement home, his friends in St. Louis move away or pair up, and even his dog transfers his affections, so there is no sense that he is giving anything up in following Philip.

Starting my No. 100, James Kirkwood's P.S. Your Cat is Dead, an ebook so not from the TBR pile and not a ROOT.

My review of P.S. Your Cat is Dead:

Jimmy Zoole is a 38 year old actor whose career has never really taken off. His best friend has died, he's breaking up with his girlfriend, he's been fired from the small part he had in a play because the leading lady wants her boyfriend in the part, and he's been burgled twice. Now on New Year's Eve the final break with his girlfriend comes and he catches the burglar who has returned for a third raid. Revenge is sweet as the night spirals out of control.

When I read this two or three times at university 35 years ago, I thought it was hilarious. Apart from one laugh out loud scene, it hasn't survived well except as a document of its time which leaves me feeling nostalgic.

Those are the books! They let you feel how much your taste had changed/evolved! But treat them nicely, they are some kind of heritage.

My review of Julie Hyzy's Deadly Blessings, which I did not finish and so it doesn't count for anything.

Alex St. James is working on a story for her TV station involving a young immigrant from Poland who is impregnated by a Catholic priest and then found murdered when she decides to go public with the story.

I got about half way through this story (49% according to my Kobo) and I realised I just didn't care enough to continue. A lot of it just felt like padding as if the author had been set a certain number of words per chapter and was churning out anything to make up the required number.

I've given up on The Classic Humor Megapack. I got about 1/3 of the way through it and most of the stories just weren't funny. So my new No. 100 is The Merry Life of Charles Parker by Timothy Ladd (no touchstones). This is an ebook and not a ROOT.

My review of The Classical Age of Greece:

Straightforward history of Greece from the early 8th century BC to the death of Philip of Macedon, mainly a political and military history with only glances at cultural and social life.

This was published in 1975 and I wonder how much of the modern analogies the author draws would resonate with a reader nowadays who is younger than I am.

No. 101 is Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai. This brings the TBR pile down to 51, and is my 30th ROOT for 2013.

My review of The Merry Life of Charles Parker:

Charles Parker's life is changing as he reaches his 12th birthday in December 1959.

A meticulously re-created view of the period as seen by an ordinary working-class boy and an extraordinarily convincing representation of his inner thoughts.

Starting my No. 102, The Oxford History of the Classical World. This brings the TBR pile down to 50 and is my 31st ROOT for 2013.

My review of The Last Samurai:

Sibylla Newman is a single mother in the 1990s bringing up a linguistic child prodigy and she provides male role models for her son Ludo by watching 'The Seven Samurai' together. As he gets older, Ludo starts looking for his father.

At times hilarious, at others baffling (I still don't get some of the comments on music), a thoroughly enjoyable mind-stretching book.

Starting my No. 103 Agatha Christie's The Murder on the Links. This is an ebook, not a ROOT. I need something lighter to fill in, because No. 102 is too heavy to carry around with me.

You are doing really well with your ROOTs Robert. Good on you!
And sometimes Agatha Christie can be just what the Dr. ordered. She is a nice relaxing read. Enjoy.

Thanks for dropping by, Belva. Hope you're enjoying your latest reading.

Starting Hercule Poirot The Complete Short Stories, my No. 104. Not a ROOT because it is an ebook.

My review of The Murder on The Links:

When Poirot and Captain Hastings arrive in answer to a letter requsting Poirot's help from a French Canadian millionaire living near Calais, they find he had been murdered the night before, apparently by two masked men who had been let into the house, and then tied up his wife and abducted him. Nothing of course is quite what it seems.

Nicely plotted with plenty of red herrings. I did find the relentless stream of Gallicisms a bit trying at times, though.

Nothing like a good Agatha Christie for the soothing of the soul unless it is L.M. Montgomery.

Just the thing for the beach.

Starting David Wishart's Ovid. My no. 105. Another ebook and not a ROOT.

I read some of the early Poirot stories and was surprised how much Agatha Christie owed to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Starting the second in David Wishart's Corvinus series Germanicus. This is my no. 106. It is an ebook, not a ROOT.

My review of Ovid:

Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus is approached by Rufia Perilla for help in obtaining permission for her to bring home the ashes of her exiled stepfather, the poet Ovid. When permission is refused, Corvinus becomes curious as to why, leading him to uncover a very murky episode in the intrigues within the imperial family a decade ago.

An enjoyable read. Corvinus and Perilla make a great couple. The modern day hard boiled detective style fits well without disrupting the sense of time and place. I shall definitely keep reading in this series.

The third in the series is The Lydian Baker. My No. 107. An ebook. Not a ROOT.

My review of Germanicus:

After charges against Piso and his wife Plancina of murdering the Emperor Tiberius's adopted son, Germanicus, are dropped, despite the general feeling that they were guilty, the Empress Livia asks Corvinus to investigate just who was behind the death of her grandson and why.

A satisfyingly complex mystery with what seems like a historically plausible solution.

Frown. Apparently The Lydian Baker is NOT the third in the series. As I read the first few chapters I increasingly had the feeling I was missing something with the references to events. When I checked the author's website, I found LT had the order of books wrong and in fact Sejanus is the third book. So, that is my No. 108. Again an ebook, not a ROOT.

Adding A Christmas Carol to the TBR pile as a re-read. This brings the TBR pile back up to 51.

Hello Robert.
I love A Christmas Carol! I read it at least once a year & yes, it is usually at Christmas time. :-)
You are reading some interesting books & ebooks Robert. The Marcus Corvinus Mysteries consistently reap 3 1/2 to 4 stars on L.T. I must admit that I find the whole thing of an amateur detective in ancient Rome rather fascinating.
Enjoy,

I've read A Christmas Carol lots of times, but it's the first one on a reading list I found of science fiction and fantasy set in London. So, into the pile it goes. When the site gets really going they will include maps so you can visit the settings of the books.

Historical detective fiction is a growing genre which I really enjoy, so I'm always pleased to find a new author.

My review of Sejanus:

Although it is set 10 years later, the events in "Sejanus" are closely linked with those in "Germanicus". Marcus Corvinus comes back to Rome from Athens for his father's funeral and despite his best intentions to the contrary he finds himself drawn into plots for and against Sejanus, the emperor's right hand man and would-be successor -- but which plots are for and which are against?

I started to lose track of some of the minor characters in this book and found myself looking back into "Germanicus" to find out who they were. Some hilarious dinner parties.

I like historical mysteries, as well.

We just drove our daughter to Portland, Oregon for an internship. Her apartment just happens to be only 2 blocks from the famous Powell's bookstore. In just a few minutes, I had more books than would fit in my luggage on the plane. I left with her The Terror by Dan Simmons, which I had been unable to find in a bookstore in 2 years of looking.

I would guess she's going to get lots of vists from her mum, then ;-) . But congratulations to your daughter. It's not easy landing jobs these days.

Starting my No. 109 Barbara Pym's A Few Green Leaves, not from the TBR pile.

My review of The Lydian Baker:

Since Marcus Corvinus is in Athens, his stepfather asks him to investigate whether the statue known as the Baker, which he's thinking of buying, is genuine. The four-foot high solid gold statue has resurfaced after being lost for 300 years or more. Unfortunately the day after Corvinus talks to the seller, the seller's murdered body is found. Corvinus's most likely suspect is the expert he's hiring to authenticate the statue.

An enjoyable read as Corvinus leaves the world of high politics behind.

Starting my No. 110, Daniel Chavarria's The Eye of Cybele. This is my 32nd ROOT of 2013 and brings my TBR pile back down to 50.

My review of A Few Green Leaves, unchanged since I read it in 2010:

Emma Howick is an anthropologist staying in her mother's country cottage to write up her notes. She sees an old flame on TV and on impulse writes to him. He visits her and moves into a deserted cottage in the woods for the summer.

This was Barbara Pym's last book, written in the last year of her life before she died of cancer. The Pym hallmark of bringing us up to date on characters from other books is there with news of some deaths. We've got the stock Pym characters, anthropologists, the clergy (but no curates), and excellent women. And yet. It's a pleasant enough read, but nothing that makes you want to read bits out loud to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen.

RIP Seamus Heaney and Frederik Pohl.

Starting my no. 111, Jody Zimmerman's Blood Brothers. This is an ebook and not a ROOT.

My review of The Eye of Cybele
Atys is on a mission to retrieve an amethyst stolen from a temple of Cybele and taken to Periclean Athens where it is used in a statue of Athene.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints of a large cast of characters and the language tries to reflect that some characters are narrating events in a language that is foreign to them or are high on drugs, in states of religious ecstasy, or otherwise not quite in their right minds. There were times when I found it very difficult to follow what was actually happening and keep track of who was who. Having read it once, I felt I needed to read it again and keep notes to really understand it, but I'm not at all sure it would repay the effort.

I gave up on Jody Zimmerman's Blood Brothers so my new No. 111 is Neil Plakcy's Mahu Vice, which is my ROOT No. 33 for 2013. As I added Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf to the TBR pile in honour of his death, the TBR pile remains unchanged at 50.

My review of "Blood Brothers":

Philip Hampton's brother dies from what seems to be a drug overdoes, but it turns out that he was murdered in the hospital. Philip and a group of friends investigate.

I really wanted to like this book but in the end I had to give up when I found from my Kobo that it had taken me well over 5 hours to get about a third of the way through it.

Somewhere inside this book is a cleverly plotted thriller trying to get out but it is swamped by the author's relentless descriptions of the characters' lives and settings. Every new room gets several pages of description of the furnishings. Every time the characters have a drink or tea and coffee on the penthouse balcony we get the complete conversation about who's having what and every 'please' and 'thank you'. We even get told about it every time the dog poops. I just couldn't take another 10 hours of it.

Starting No. 112, which is the next in the Mahu series, Mahu Blood. This is an ebook, not a ROOT.

My review of Mahu Vice:

The first shopping centre Kimo's father ever built burns down in an arson attack. Meanwhile someone Kimo met through an online dating site has contacted him again asking for discreet help dealing with blackmail threats. The same names come up in both investigations.

The best in the Mahu series so far, way better than the disappointing "Mahu Fire". Lots of twists and turns, and some sweet romance as broken hearts start to heal. Very hard to put down.

Starting my No. 113, the next in the Mahu series Zero Break. This is an ebook, not a ROOT. I got it half price because Kobo has everything at half price this month. Temptations abound.

My review of Mahu Blood:

An old lady is shot during a Hawaiian secessionist march. As Kimo and his colleague Ray investigate the bodies start piling up but what is the link between them?

Another excellent entry in this series, though I think it took Kimo and Ray an improbably long time to work out who Mr. T was. Nice pictures of Kimo and Mike's relationship as they settle into domesticity.

Starting my No. 114, Natural Predators, the most recent of the Mahu series. An ebook, not a ROOT.

My review of Zero Break:

An alternative energy sources analyst working for the government is found at home with her throat cut. Was it a burglar, or her ex-partner, or the father of her children, or somebody threatened by her work? Kimo and Ray investigate. And on the home front, Kimo is getting broody.

A good, well-written story which holds the reader's interest.

Starting my No. 115, Barbara Pym's Crampton Hodnet. This is not a ROOT.

My review of Natural Predators:

The corpse in a burned out warehouse turns out to be that of a retired lawyer who had been one of the prime movers in Hawaii's move to statehood in the 1950s. Was he about to reveal some long-hidden secrets?

Good story with some interesting looks back to Hawaii in the middle of the 20th century.

Good job, Robert.

Starting No. 116, Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man. This reduces the TBR pile to 49 and is my ROOT No. 34 for 2013.

My review of Crampton Hodnet:

Goings on in North Oxford in Barbara Pym's second but posthumous novel.

All the classic Barbara Pym themes are here: curates, maiden ladies, gay men, and romances that don't really go anywhere. The only thing missing is anthropologists.

Starting my No. 117, Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. This brings the TBR pile down to 48 and is my 35th ROOT for 2013, which means I've reached my target for ROOTs for this year.

My review of A Single Man:

In 1963 George is getting through another day in Los Angeles, as he starts to recover from the death of his partner, Jim.

Excellent descriptions of the sheer physicality of being human shared by even the most intellectually-minded of us.

Yeah! Good job, Robert. Congratulations on reaching your goal.

Hurray for reaching your goal!

Thank you both.

Well done!

Well done!!!

Thank you, MissWatson and Ameise1.

Now starting Robin Reardon's A Question of Manhood. This was lent to me by a friend and so is not from the TBR pile and not a ROOT.

Starting my No. 119, George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss. This brings the TBR pile down to 47, and is ROOT no. 36 for 2013.

My review of A Question of Manhood:

Coming of age story set in the early 1970s as Paul finds out his beloved elder brother, Chris, is gay just before Chris returns to Vietnam where he will be killed.

Surprisingly gripping story. Paul had such a hard time, feeling so unloved and abandoned.

Continued in a new thread, TBR@56.